Wines of South Africa (WOSA) held its seventh Wine Grand Tasting event in Lagos recently.
The annual event which brings together producers of wines from South Africa with lovers or wines, entrepreneurs, distributors, and other tradesmen together to network also celebrates Nelson Mandela Day.
The year’s event began with South African Introductory Wine Course, which is meant to teach people in the hospitality and tourism industry to better understand wines.
South African authorities say raging wildfires in the country’s wine region near Cape Town have destroyed part of the country’s oldest wine estates, while some mountain slopes above Cape Town’s exclusive beach enclave of Llandudno were also affected.
A recent documentary titled “Bitter Grapes – Slavery in the vineyards” produced by a Danish filmmaker Tom Heinemann and shown on Swedish and Danish television, two of South Africa’s biggest wine export markets, shows the poor working conditions of South African farm workers. The film paints a picture of long working hours, which are in violation of labour laws. It also shows the workers as being exposed to toxic pesticides without any protection, squalor living conditions and unofficial use of the “dop system” – an apartheid-era arrangement in which workers are paid in alcohol rather than money.
It was all bubbles and clicking of wine glasses on Friday 15th July as the Wines of South Africa held its 2016 Grand Tasting Event. The wine show which is in its fourth year held at the Liquid Hub in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The event is meant to present South African wines to Nigerians in the trade, business executives, media and wine lovers to an evening of wine tasting.
South African wine producers are trying to cater for Nigerian’s appetite for red wine and Angolans’ thirst for sparkling wine, says Matome Mbatha of Wines of South Africa (WOSA), an industry trade body.
He made the comments on Thursday 17th September 2015, in Cape Town, South Africa.
He added that exports of mostly red wine to Nigeria have risen to 4.5 million litres a year, while exports to Angola of mostly bubbly wine has risen to 6 million litres, 5 million of which are sparkling wines, mainly J.C. Le Roux, a low cost sparkling wine that retails for about N900 ($4) in South Africa.
The Third Edition of Wines of South Africa (WOSA) event took place on Saturday, July 18, 2015 on the grounds of the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
WOSA is an annual event organized by Spronks Creation, in conjunction with the South African wine industry. Spronks is a Nigerian Event Management Company with focus on Wines & Spirits support services. It is headed by Ronke Sobodu, who also organizes the annual Nigeria International Wine and Spirit Fair (NIWSF).
